Morgan McGarry’s senior year of high school didn’t turn out the way she had planned.
The soccer star tore the ACL in her knee in September 2014, putting her final high school season — and maybe her freshman year at the University of Arizona — in jeopardy.
When McGarry called UA’s coaches to break the news, they were understanding. They told her to focus on her recovery, and to be ready to play in college.
“I came here and we discussed that it was best for me to redshirt,” McGarry said. “I was able to have more time to build up my strength and get back to my playing level and surpass the way I was playing.”
Now, McGarry isn’t just healthy. She’s starting.
The defender and her Wildcats (3-2-2) will try for their third straight win Saturday, when they take on Oregon at 7 p.m. at Mulcahy Stadium.
Female athletes are four-to-six times more likely to suffer ACL injuries than their male counterparts, according to a 2009 study by the University of Colorado-Denver. In fact, McGarry was one of three members of the UA’s nine-person 2015 recruiting class to suffer the same injury.
McGarry spent her senior year at San Ramon Valley High in Danville, Calif., working with a physical therapist. Once at Arizona, she was paired with Jim Krumpos, the Wildcats’ assistant athletic director for performance enhancement.
“He helps a lot with incoming freshmen trying to get you to that Pac-12 playing level,” McGarry said. “Jim focuses on building your strength and speed back.”
Every athlete’s recovery is different, though most players are usually cleared to return within six or seven months of their injury. It can take as long as 14 months to get back to 85 to 90 percent strength, Krumpos said.
One Wildcats player was back in full swing by six months. It took McGarry longer than that.
McGarry was about nine months out of surgery and done with rehab when she came to UA. But she was far from healed: McGarry still wore a brace on her knee, and was hesitant on the field.
McGarry worked with Krumpos by doing strength training, conditioning and multi-directional movement drills three times a week. The training helped her gain confidence and strength.
“The biggest thing we do is a comprehensive assessment on their body and how it moves when they get here,” Krumpos said. “Then they have a whole program, specifically for them individually, to correct imbalances, work on mobility, work on strength and work on stability.”
McGarry redshirted as a freshman, and played in just four games — attempting one shot — as a sophomore.
McGarry was determined to change things as an upperclassman. During the summer, she stuck to a daily workout plan designed by Krumpos and the training staff.
“Every day I went out. You just have to grind and go through it,” she said. “It may not be the most fun thing in the world over your summer break, but you’re going to set yourself up for success in the end.”
McGarry’s hard work paid off. Coaches moved McGarry from midfielder to left back, and awarded her a spot in the starting lineup. McGarry says it’s been great to play as much as she has so far this season. She doesn’t even think about her injury anymore.
“She’s a really good kid and she’s come a long way,” Krumpos said. “She has some real mental toughness. She came here as a really highly regarded player and struggled to overcome her injury and went from not playing much last year to a starter.”
